Commuters face long jams as Delhi rehearses for Republic Day Parade

New Delhi: Commuters had a harrowing time Monday morning as they found themselves stuck in long jams on Central Delhi roads owing restrictions made ahead of Republic Day Parade rehearsal.

Police said they received several calls from commuters reporting traffic woes.

Vikas Marg (from Laxmi Nagar to ITO), Pragat Maidan, and Akshardham were three of several such stretches which witnessed intractable snarls.

Ankita Singh, a commuter, said, "Traffic from Noida till Akshardham was heavy. The route leading towards ITO also had jam and the GPS showed 40 minutes to cover a distance of around 6 kilometres." Several commuters took to Twitter to inform others about the traffic situation in the city, with one of them reporting heavy jams on ITO, Pragati Maidan, and Geeta Colony flyover.

While one said that traffic did not move at ITO for over an hour, another commuter, who said he was stuck in jam for two hours, advised people against venturing out on roads.

Prerna Singh, who works in central Delhi, said, "I live in southern part of the city and reach my office within an hour and half. However, there were several roads which were closed on Monday probably due to rehearsal of Republic Day and my cab took an extra 30 minutes to drop me to my place." Kautilya Marg, Sardar Patel Marg, Chanakyapuri, and Hauz Khas also witnessed massive traffic.

The Delhi Traffic Police had issued an advisory on the arrangements and restrictions for the smooth conduct of Monday's full dress rehearsal for the Republic Day parade.

The rehearsals started at 10.30 am from Vijay Chowk and passed via the Kartavya Path, C-Hexagon, the roundabout statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Tilak Marg, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, and Netaji Subhas Marg before concluding at the Red Fort.

According to the advisory, no traffic was allowed on the Kartavya Path from the Vijay Chowk to India Gate from 6 pm on Sunday till the end of the parade on Monday.

Vehicular movement was also banned on the Kartavya Path at Rafi Marg, Janpath, and Man Singh Road from 11 pm Sunday till the parade ended. The C-Hexagon-India Gate was closed from 9.15 am on Monday till the parade crosses the Tilak Marg, the advisory stated.

Traffic on both sides of the roads was not be allowed on Tilak Marg, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, and Subhash Marg from 10.30 am. Cross-traffic was only allowed depending on the movement of the parade, it stated.